This blog features observations from Randy Turner, a former teacher, newspaper reporter and editor. Send news items or comments to rturner229@hotmail.com

Sunday, September 04, 2016

Lawyers contribute more than $11,000 in Jasper County judge race

The details escape me, but several years ago, the Joplin Globe combed through the election financial disclosure forms for an investigative piece on the number of Jasper County lawyers who were contributing to a campaign in which an incumbent judge was receiving a primary challenge.

The articles quoted experts, including lawyers, who decried the practice of lawyers giving money to the campaigns of judges, who are supposed to remain impartial in the cases that are brought before them.

And all of this occurred back before our legislature defied the will of Missouri voters and removed all campaign contribution limits.

The evidence of that change can be seen in the campaign finance documents for the Jasper County Division 2 race.

Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney Dean Dankelson and Judge Stephen Carlton received $11,200 from lawyers or people working at local law firms, with Dankelson receiving $7,450 and Carlton $3,750.

Dankelson received the largest contributions, $2,000 from both the Glades Law Firm and Stilley Law, LLC. He also received $750 from Norman Rouse, who has worked for him in the prosecuting attorney's office.

Carlton's largest contributions were $500 from Phillip Foster, an attorney from Camden, Arkansas, and not surprisingly, $400 from Morrison, Webster, and Carlton.

Dankelson received $2,850 in contributions after the election, including the $2,000 from the Glades Law Firm, which was received August 23, according to the Missouri Ethics Commission records, $250 apiece from Charles Sticklen, Bishop and Hayes, and R. Daryl Edwards, and $100 from Bruce Secrist.

Out of Dankelson's $7,450, $6,400 came from Jasper County attorneys.

Carlton received $2,500 out of his $3,750 from Jasper County attorneys.

Carlton raised $25,147.30 during the election period and spent $24,538.39.

Dankelson raised $38,800 and spent $37,857.72.

The candidates' contributions from lawyers or law firms are listed below:

About Me

I am a former teacher in the Joplin and Diamond, Missouri, school districts. Before entering the teaching field, I spent 22 years as a reporter and editor for various Southwest Missouri newspapers. I have published three novels, Small Town News, Devil's Messenger, and No Child Left Alive, and seven non-fiction books, The Turner Report, Newspaper Days, Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud, Greed, Corruption, and the Joplin Tornado, 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado, Scars from the Tornado and Let Teachers Teach.

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